The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Tuesday clarified that the revenue shortfalls attributed to some institutions in its latest audit report were not intended to witch-hunt any parties but to ensure Nigerians enjoyed the all the benefits that extractive industry has to offer.
NEITI In a statement to douse the unsavory reactions from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other oil companies operating in Nigeria, noted that the $22.06b and N481.75b that were yet to be remitted by NNPC, NPDC and others to the federation account, were legacy issues arising from its audit reports for the period 1999 to 2015.
NEITI Spokesman, Dr Orji Orji said the bulk of the outstanding amounts is from NLNG dividends from the period 2000 to 2015 and outstanding payments for the value of 12 Oil Mining Licenses (OMLs) divested to NPDC between 2011 and 2013.
“The focus of the conference was on how to ensure better implementation of NEITI’s audit recommendations, address the lingering issues in the extractive sector, and improve optimisation of Nigeria’s extractive endowments for the benefit of all Nigerians.
“The conference was not a fault-finding or political event. It was a solution-oriented gathering with good representation and useful contributions from government agencies (including NNPC, DPR, CBN, PPPRA etc), the private sector, civil society, academia, and the media.
“The information shared for discussion is not only historical, but also not new. There was nothing in the data shared and discussed yesterday that had not been made public over time, most notably in the NEITI Policy Brief on unremitted funds released in April 2017 and in the NEITI 2015 industry audit reports released in December 2017.
“Those who follow discussions on these issues closely would also be aware that various efforts have been made by different government institutions, including the Federation Allocation Accounts Committee (FAAC) and the National Economic Council (NEC) to ensure that NNPC and its subsidiaries address these legacy issues.
“It is noteworthy that at the conference yesterday, the NNPC team confirmed that many of the issues under reference have either been resolved or at advanced stages of resolution. While NEITI awaits the outcome of its ongoing audits for 2016 and 2017 to provide update on these and other issues, it is wrong to deliberately distort data from NEITI’s audits and the issues arising from them for sensational or political purposes”, Orji explained.
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